(1) Background: Several factors have been suggested to be associated with the physiopathology of frailty in older adults, and nutrition (especially protein intake) has been attributed fundamental importance in this context. The objective of this study was to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate the relationship between protein intake and frailty status in older adults. (2) Methods: A search of scientific studies was conducted in the main databases (Medline, Scopus, Cochrane library), and in the reference lists of selected articles. The search terms included synonyms and Medical Subject Headings and involved the use of Boolean operators which allowed the combination of words and search terms. Observational studies—cross-sectional and longitudinal—that met the eligibility criteria were included in the review. Article selection and data extraction were performed by two independent reviewers. Meta-analyses with random effects were performed. Publication bias was measured using the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology instrument. (3) Results: In the final sample, 10 articles, seven cross-sectional and three longitudinal, were included in the present study. Overall, studies investigated a total of 50,284 older adults from three different continents between 2006 and 2018. Four cross-sectional studies were included in the meta-analyses. The results demonstrated that a high protein intake was negatively associated with frailty status in older adults (odds ratio: 0.67, confidence interval = 0.56 to 0.82, p = 0.0001). (4) Conclusions: Our findings suggest that a high consumption of dietary protein is inversely associated with frailty in older adults.

Background: The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between speed during maximum exercise test (ET) and oxygen consumption (VO₂) in control and STZ-diabetic rats, in order to provide a useful method to determine exercise capacity and prescription in researches involving STZ-diabetic rats. Methods: Male Wistar rats were divided into two groups: control (CG, n = 10) and diabetic (DG, n = 8). The animals were submitted to ET on treadmill with simultaneous gas analysis through open respirometry system. ET and VO₂ were assessed 60 days after diabetes induction (STZ, 50 mg/Kg). Results: VO₂ maximum was reduced in STZ-diabetic rats (72.5 ± 1 mL/Kg/min^-1) compared to CG rats (81.1 ± 1 mL/Kg/min^-1). There were positive correlations between ET speed and VO₂ (r = 0.87 for CG and r = 0.8 for DG), as well as between ET speed and VO₂ reserve (r = 0.77 for CG and r = 0.7 for DG). Positive correlations were also obtained between measured VO₂ and VO₂ predicted values (r = 0.81 for CG and r = 0.75 for DG) by linear regression equations to CG (VO₂ = 1.54 * ET speed + 52.34) and DG (VO₂ = 1.16 * ET speed + 51.99). Moreover, we observed that 60% of ET speed corresponded to 72 and 75% of VO₂ reserve for CG and DG, respectively. The maximum ET speed was also correlated with VO₂ maximum for both groups (CG: r = 0.7 and DG: r = 0.7). Conclusion: These results suggest that: a) VO₂ and VO₂ reserve can be estimated using linear regression equations obtained from correlations with ET speed for each studied group; b) exercise training can be prescribed based on ET in control and diabetic-STZ rats; c) physical capacity can be determined by ET. Therefore, ET, which involves a relatively simple methodology and low cost, can be used as an indicator of cardio-respiratory capacity in future studies that investigate the physiological effect of acute or chronic exercise in control and STZ-diabetic male rats.

Cardiac innervation by the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) and the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) modulates the heart rate (HR) (chronotropic activity) and the contraction of the cardiac muscle (inotropic activity). The peripheral vasculature is controlled only by the SNS, which is responsible for peripheral vascular resistance. This also mediates the baroreceptor reflex (BR), which in turn mediates blood pressure (BP). Hypertension (HTN) and the autonomic nervous system (ANS) are closely related, such that derangements can lead to vasomotor impairments and several comorbidities, including obesity, hypertension, resistant hypertension, and chronic kidney disease. Autonomic dysfunction is also associated with functional and structural changes in target organs (heart, brain, kidneys, and blood vessels), increasing cardiovascular risk. Heart rate variability (HRV) is a method of assessing cardiac autonomic modulation. This tool has been used for clinical evaluation and to address the effect of therapeutic interventions. The present review aims (a) to approach the heart rate (HR) as a CV risk factor in hypertensive patients; (b) to analyze the heart rate variability (HRV) as a “tool” to estimate the individual risk stratum for Pre-HTN (P-HTN), Controlled-HTN (C-HTN), Resistant and Refractory HTN (R-HTN and Rf-HTN, respectively), and hypertensive patients with chronic renal disease (HTN+CKD).

(1) Background: The present work aims to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies, in order to investigate the association of relative protein intake and physical function in older adults; (2) Methods: Observational studies, that investigated the association between protein intake and physical function in older adults, were retrieved from MEDLINE, SCOPUS, CINAHL, AgeLine, EMBASE, and Cochrane-CENTRAL. Two independent researchers conducted study selection and data extraction; (3) Results: Very high protein intake (≥1.2 g/kg/day) and high protein intake (≥1.0 g/kg/day) groups showed better lower limb physical functioning and walking speed (WS) performance, respectively, in comparison to individuals who present relative low protein (<0.80 g/kg/day) intake. On the other hand, relative high protein intake does not seem to propitiate a better performance on isometric handgrip (IHG) and chair rise in comparison to relative low protein intake. In addition, there were no significant differences in the physical functioning of high and middle protein intake groups; (4) Conclusions: In conclusion, findings of the present study indicate that a very high (≥1.2 g/kg/day) and high protein intake (≥1.0 g/kg/day) are associated with better lower-limb physical performance, when compared to low protein (<0.80 g/kg/day) intake, in community-dwelling older adults. These findings act as additional evidence regarding the potential need to increase protein guidelines to above the current recommendations. However, large randomized clinical trials are needed to confirm the addictive effects of high-protein diets (≥1.0 g/kg/day) in comparison to the current recommendations on physical functioning. All data are available in the Open ScienceFramework.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of green teaCamellia sinensisextract on proinflammatory molecules and lipolytic protein levels in adipose tissue of diet-induced obese mice. Animals were randomized into four groups: CW (chow diet and water); CG (chow diet and water + green tea extract); HW (high-fat diet and water); HG (high-fat diet and water + green tea extract). The mice were fedad libitumwith chow or high-fat diet and concomitantly supplemented (oral gavage) with 400 mg/kg body weight/day of green tea extract (CG and HG, resp.). The treatments were performed for eight weeks. UPLC showed that in 10 mg/mL green tea extract, there were 15 μg/mg epigallocatechin, 95 μg/mg epigallocatechin gallate, 20.8 μg/mg epicatechin gallate, and 4.9 μg/mg gallocatechin gallate. Green tea administered concomitantly with a high-fat diet increased HSL, ABHD5, and perilipin in mesenteric adipose tissue, and this was associated with reduced body weight and adipose tissue gain. Further, we observed that green tea supplementation reduced inflammatory cytokine TNFαlevels, as well as TLR4, MYD88, and TRAF6 proinflammatory signalling. Our results show that green tea increases the lipolytic pathway and reduces adipose tissue, and this may explain the attenuation of low-grade inflammation in obese mice.

Aims: Exposure to a high glucose medium or diabetes has been found to protect the heart against ischaemia. The activation of antiapoptotic and proliferative factors seems to be involved in this cardioprotection. This study was designed to evaluate the role of hyperglycaemia in cardiac function, programmed cell survival, and cell death in diabetic rats after myocardial infarction (MI). Methods and results: Male Wistar rats were divided into four groups (n = 8): control (C), diabetic (D), myocardial infarcted (MI), and diabetic myocardial infarcted (DI). The following measures were assessed in the left ventricle: size of MI, systolic and diastolic function by echocardiography, cytokines by ELISA (TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, and IL-10), gene expression by real-time PCR (Bax, Fas, p53, Bcl-2, HIF1-α, VEGF, and IL8r), caspase-3 activity by spectrofluorometric assay, glucose transporter type 1 and 4 (GLUT-1 and GLUT-4) protein expression by western blotting, and capillary density and fibrosis by histological analysis. Systolic function was improved by hyperglycaemia in the DI group, and this was accompanied by no improvement in diastolic dysfunction, a reduction of 36% in MI size, reduced proinflammatory cytokines, apoptosis activation, and an increase in cell survival factors (HIF1-α, VEGFa and IL8r) assessed 15 days post-MI. Moreover, hyperglycaemia resulted in angiogenesis (increased capillary density) before and after MI, accompanied by a reduction in fibrosis. Conclusion: Together, these results suggest that greater plasticity and cellular resistance to ischaemic injury result from chronic diabetic hyperglycaemia in rat hearts.